University of Missouri-Kansas City eyes new name

COLUMBIA, Missouri -- The University of Missouri-Kansas City is considering changing its name to the University of Kansas City.

Officials at the Kansas City school say the name change would help it emerge from the sizable shadow of the Missouri campus in Columbia.

The school has used its current name since it joined the four-campus University of Missouri system nearly 50 years ago. But Chancellor Leo Morton is suggesting the school return to the name it used when it was founded in 1929.

A UMKC name change would have to be approved by the university system’s Board of Curators. No formal proposal has yet been submitted.

University name changes have become increasingly common in Missouri. The Missouri system’s Rolla campus changed its name to the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2008.